Police raid Swedbank headquarters amid money laundering probe
Police raided the headquarters of Swedbank this morning as part of a probe into insider trading.
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“The Economic Crime Authority can confirm media reports that a raid is ongoing at the Swedbank headquarters,” the body said.
“The raid is being carried out by police from from the authority's financial markets chambers instructed by chief prosecutor Thomas Langrot as part of the ongoing investigation into Swedbank.”
The Swedish bank confirmed the raid in a statement around midday.
“At this point of time, no individual or legal entity has been served suspicion of a crime. As communicated before, we will cooperate with the authorities,” a spokesperson said.
It comes weeks after the bank was accused of involvement in money laundering in the Baltics by Swedish broadcaster SVT.
Swedbank is being investigated over allegations that it gave major shareholders access to information in the SVT report before broadcast.
Shares dropped 6.7 per cent this morning on news of the raid, and after SVT this morning accused the bank of misleading US investigators looking at transactions linked to the Panama Papers scandal.
The bank told Reuters that it “cooperates fully and communicates clearly, correctly and with the best intentions with all relevant authorities”.
“Current legislation does not allow Swedbank to comment on the existence or contents of any confidential potential communication with the New York State Department of Financial Services,” it added.
The Swedish bank’s share price has lost around 25 per cent of its value since being linked to an investigation into a possible $227bn of laundered money at Danske Bank’s Estonian branch.
Regulators in Sweden, Estonia, Latvia and Lithuania began investigating the bank over allegations that 50 clients transferred $4.3bn between Baltic accounts at Swedbank and Dasnke between 2007 and 2015.
Estonia has ordered Dankse to shut its local branch by the end of the year as authorities around the world investigate the money laundering claims.
Read more: Sweden and Estonia probe Swedbank over money-laundering report
A law firm’s probe put red flags on almost all of the bank’s non-resident accounts, referring mostly to Russian money.